Discount Textbooks in Fort Dodge has a gun in the back counter. Jessica McDonald, 22, turned to that firearm for her personal safety.

“I feel comfortable now using it, but I always said I never thought I would,” McDonald said.

McDonald had just opened the store a few minutes before 9 a.m. when a white man between 50 and 60 years old came into the store and started coughing. He covered his face with a bandana and demanded money.

“At that point, I opened up my register and took the till out and showed him I don’t have any money in my register,” McDonald said.

He moved behind the computer.

“We were face to face, and then he, like, put the mace right in my face and said, ‘Give me all the money out of your register,’” McDonald said.

McDonald said she got the gun out of the safe and pointed it at the would-be thief. She said she told him to leave the store and backed away with the gun pointed at him.

McDonald told a person who called during the attempted robbery to call 911. The man took off, and she chased him into the parking lot while yelling, 'Call 911.'

Paul Tigges, the store’s manager, said the firearm was put there for employees’ safety.

“Anything could happen had we not had that firearm in that store and she did not have access to it,” Tigges said. “We’ll never know what might have happened.”

McDonald said she was surprised initially when she learned the gun was there.

“It was shocking to me when I started here that there is a gun and I always thought it was over the top and we didn’t need it, but I’m very glad that we have it,” she said.

Police said they do not have a suspect in connection with the case. They said it remains under investigation.

Police said the would-be thief is 5 feet 5 inches tall with gray facial hair. He was riding a smaller-framed black bike. Those with information can contact Fort Dodge police.